Dont Settle for the Cold and Rain
by swimmergirl3
Summary: Scarlet McKinley thought she had a normal life. One shot. LukexOC & NicoxOC also some minor Percabeth if you squint. im going to write one more chapter, then finish the story. ive sort of backed myself into a corner and i dont really know how to finish.
1. my life goes mental

**Unfortunately, I do not own PJO; Rick Riordan does. But there are some OC's like Scar that do belong to me! And ive changed some dialogue from the book. The time period is obviously during the second war of the titans in The Last Olympian, and … I think that's it! Enjoy (:**

My best friend is officially absolutely crazy. She was dragging me through Manhattan by the wrist holding a three foot long sword in her right hand. I had no idea what the hell she was doing. She turned the last corner and in front of me was the empire state building in all its glory. Except … one thing … it looked like a battlefield. There were people in Battle armour with weapons everywhere fighting these … _things_! There was yellow dust everywhere, it was covering the ground, and the tree's even the people in the armour. The battle was fully raging on. She pulled me towards the lobby; she kept looking at her watch and flinging her long blonde hair out of her gray eyes. My own blonde hair was covering my green eyes so I couldn't see very well where we were going. We ran up to the elevator and she stopped for a second and called out,

'Travis! Connor! Where are they?' two boys appeared from behind the desk wielding swords. They looked like twins except one was taller and one was definitely shorter.

'Throne room! Better hurry! Typhon's on his way, their not gonna hold long there!' she gave a quick sharp nod and we continued to run towards the elevator. She pressed the button and the doors flew open. She pushed me in full force and pressed a button I had never seen before on my tours as I slammed into the elevator wall.

'Where are we going!' I yelled at her. She looked around, and then reached in the pocket of her very tattered black skinny jeans. She pulled out a silver pen. She forced it at me and I took it not knowing what else to do.

'Click it!' she commanded. I did as I was told. I almost fell over when a sword about five feet long protruded from the pen.

'What the!' I exclaimed looking it over. One side was made of bronze (im guessing) and the other was made of steel (im also guessing). The elevator binged. _Just in time,_ I thought. I was getting tired of that stupid music. When the doors opened I swear to god I almost feinted. Right there. In the middle of the elevator. Because right in front of me, wasn't the top floor of the empire state building; but a mess of crumbled columns, broken statues, white marble buildings on fire, and people running around tending to the needs and injuries of people in hospital beds.

'Where the HELL are we?' I screamed at Melaynie.

'Olympus calm down! Now do me a favour! Run straight to that big building over there, and don't stop until you get in there!' she pushed me forwards out of the elevator. Something caught up to my mind that didn't make any sense.

'OLYMPUS? WHAT ARE YOU SMOKING?' I screamed again.

'JUST GO! Please!' I stumbled forward after she gave me a look that she's never given me before. Like, ever. I did as I was told; I ran. As fast as I could, this was pretty fast I have to admit. The doors of the HUGE building that Melaynie had pointed out to me were open. And they were at _least_ forty feet high. I heard voices coming from inside, one voice was way too familiar. I sure hoped I was really delusional and would wake up any moment. Hopefully a very soon moment. I ran up the white marble stairs that were cracking in every way I could see. I ran through the open doors and my heart stopped. Dead. No beating. My mouth dropped open. The talking stopped, I felt eyes on me.

'What the …?' came from the guy with the black hair and sea green eyes. Another guy was kneeling on the floor next to a girl who looked freakishly like Melaynie, and there was that familiar boy. Standing right in the middle of the room. Surrounded by thirteen chairs that all looked different. If I wasn't delusional, and this really was 'Olympus' as Melaynie said, then I was probably in Zeus' throne room. Holy shit. My words were caught in my throat. The sword I was holding clattered to the floor. I walked forward slowly towards the guy who'd grown up so much since id last seen him. A slow walk turned into a run. I stopped directly in front of him, not so sure anymore that this was the guy I had secretly been in love with when I was thirteen. He was different. You could see it in him. His eyes were gold. _Gold?_ What the hell? His blonde hair was longer than usual. It just barely touched his shoulders, and now, he had a scar running down his left cheek.

'L-Luke?' I asked, stammering. He smirked, it was so unlike him.

'Not anymore, _mortal_.' I staggered back. _Mortal?_ What was he talking about? The boy with the black hair called out to me,

'Step back!' I didn't obey him.

'Come on Scarlet STEP BACK!' my head whirled around towards him,

'How do you know my name?'

'Just step back! I don't want you to get hurt! Its not you're battle!' I looked back and forth between him and the smirking boy who was no longer the Luke that I knew.

'What happened to you Luke?'

'Like Jackson said, this is not you're battle mortal!'

'Stop calling me that!' I yelled in his face. The ugly smirk disappeared. His eyes flashed blue for a moment as his hand moved from his side to my cheek.

'Scar …' his voice was soft as he said my nick name. I hated it when anybody else called me that, but with him it was ok. His weapon dropped from his right hand and clattered on the marble floor. I brought my hand up and touched his hand that was on my cheek, id been waiting so long for this, but it wasn't any way that I had pictured this moment. His other arm went around my waist, my hand found its way around his neck in response. His once blue eyes closed as he bent his head down towards mine. About an inch before his lips touched mine, he stopped. He just kept breathing heavily, like he was trying to gain control. Every so often his grip would tighten against me like he wanted to hurt me, and not like he wanted to kiss me. But then it would go soft again, like this is what he wanted. Finally, after about a minute which seemed like an eternity, his lips closed the space between mine. His arms were soft, but yet still kinda firm around my waist. His lips touched mine and I know this is really cheesy, but I felt sort of light headed, like my head was on fire, sparks were flying everywhere. But just as soon as it started, it ended. He pulled away from me and opened his eyes. He was sort of glowing gold.

'Luke, what's, what's happening? I don't understand where am I? What's going on?' I was out of breath from the kiss and scared. I was scared half to death. I have no idea where I am. I have no idea what im doing, and I have no idea what this is supposed to mean. He stepped back from me; his eyes were full of hurt and anger.

'Scarlet, leave, I don't want you to see this, I don't want to hurt you anymore. You have to leave before it happens, I won't let you see me like this. It will hurt too much. I love you, always have, and always will. Even in the underworld.' I was officially confused,

'See you like what? I made a mistake, I don't blame you for anything Luke, I never want to hurt you, but someone HAS to tell me what's going on, I don't understand!'

'Just leave Scar, I don't want this to happen, but I have to do it. He's changing, once he becomes his true form, anyone within a mile will be disintegrated. I can't let that happen to you. I won't let it happen to you.' It sounded like he was really struggling with something now, his eyes kept flashing blue to gold and back. His fists were clenched at his sides, his eyebrows scrunched together,

'Percy, take her out of here, I don't want her to see this.'

'Im not leaving Annabeth.' Luke shuddered,

'Im not going anywhere. Nobody is taking me anywhere.' I decided. Luke's hand started to reach out towards me, but an invisible force seemed to be fighting every muscle in his body. The fighting muscles won. He wiped his arm around and I flew backwards and hit a throne made of gold that seemed to shine like the sun. He smirked that ugly smirk again,

'How fitting. You're father's throne. To bad he's not here to protect you anymore Scar.' The way he said my name left a bitter taste in my mouth. My vision was swirling, my head was hurting really badly, but I forced words to form in my mouth.

'You're not Luke. Luke's dead. You may have his body _whoever _you are, but you aren't Luke Castellan.' I said putting as much acid as I could into my words as I could without completely blacking out. Black dots were spotting my vision. He stepped towards me, but the boy with the black hair intercepted him.

'You're not touching her Kronos. I won't let you. No way in Hades are you hurting another person in this war. It's me you want, so kill Me.' the bravery in his voice was wavering, but I could tell he was trying his best. My vision got fuzzier, I could barely see. What I did see was the blonde girl lying over by the other throne sit up a bit with the help of the boy with the brown curly hair.

'Luke!' she called weakly.

'Family. You _promised_.' He froze halfway reaching for his sword that had fallen. He was struggling again, trying not to get to his sword. Something skittered across the marble floor towards me; I looked down, barely able to see what it was. It was a blade, made of bronze. I picked it up in my hand and looked towards the blonde girl; she looked back at me, gave a weak nod and blacked out, slumping on the boy's shoulders. I looked again at the dagger in my hand, the boy with the black hair and the person who used to be Luke Castellan were staring at it as well. I don't know why or how the name came to me, it just did.

'Percy, take it. Please.' I held my hand up a bit. he stepped forward not taking his eyes off the collage aged blonde boy who was fighting against himself; eyes flashing from gold, to blue, and back again. He grasped the dagger from my hand and by then, Luke was on his knees, clutching his chest like he was trying to hold himself together. He was really glowing gold now; it was almost too bright to look at.

'Percy!' he gasped, he sounded like he wasn't getting enough air. 'Please! Not – much …. Time! He's taking over! He won't – need my – body anymore – please!' Percy looked around, to me, the blonde girl, to me then back again. Luke had one of his hands outstretched, Percy gave in and handed him the dagger. I heard a 'What! Percy are you…!' crazy? He probably is. Luke un-strapped his armour and a small patch of bronze that was covering the smallest place beneath his left armpit. He was really struggling to get the last latch off. We all just sat/stood there and watched as it finally came undone. It fell to the floor with a clank and he raised the dagger to the newly uncovered patch of skin. He pressed the tip of the blade to the skin and a small red line appeared beneath it. The cut couldn't have been very deep, but he cried in pain, I looked away, I couldn't take it anymore.

'Close you're eyes!' shouted Percy. I automatically did as instructed, but even through my eyelids, the light was blinding. It blistered my skin and parched my lips. Just like the kiss, as soon as it came, it disappeared. I opened my eyes once again and turned my head back to where Luke had been standing. He wasn't standing anymore, but lying on the marble floor with a pool of blood under his left arm. The black dots had come and passed; my vision was almost cleared as I stumbled up and ran towards him. The blonde girl with the help from the other boy walked towards us slowly. Once I was by his side, I took one of his hands in my own and the first tear trickled down my cheek. My blonde hair was matted against my neck with what I assumed was blood coming from the big gash on the back of my had from where I had hit the throne. The blonde girl took his other hand. He turned towards her, his eyes finally staying that sky blue colour that I loved.

'You knew …I almost killed you but you knew.'

'Shhh, you were a hero at the end, Luke. You'll go to Elysium.' He shook his head weakly,

'Think … rebirth. Try for three times. Isles of the blest.'

'You always pushed yourself too hard.' He held up his charred hand. The blonde girl touched his fingertips.

'Did you … did you love me?' he asked quietly. She thought for a moment and wiped her tears away.

'There was a time I thought … well, I thought …' she looked at Percy as if he was the only thing holding her to this earth, the only thing willing her to live. He was doing the same.

'You were like a brother to me, Luke.' She said softly. 'But I didn't love you.' He turned his head to look at the high ceiling, and then he turned to me and squeezed my hand as hard as he could. With my free hand I wiped the tears that were rolling down my cheeks.

'I never meant to hurt you Scarlet. I would never _ever_ hurt you on purpose. The only reason I didn't stay was because I was afraid that you wouldn't feel the same way. I was afraid that you would reject me. But I was wrong. I never should have left. But if I hadn't left, then none of this would've happened. I would've never met Annabeth, or Thalia, or Percy, or Grover who is the bravest satyr I have ever met. Please forgive me.' there was no point in wiping my tears away now; they just came pouring down.

'I do Luke, I promise I do.'

'I love you Scarlet.'

'I loved you too Luke.' He was too weak to turn his head anymore, so he just spoke to Percy while looking at me,

'Ethan. Me. All the unclaimed. Don't let it … don't let It happen again.' His eyes were angry, but pleading too.

'I won't.' Said Percy in a solemn voice. 'I promise.' Luke nodded then his hand went slack. I broke down, I couldn't stand it anymore. Percy's hand hovered over his eyes as he shut them. I heard the sounds of footsteps through my sobbing and then they stopped. I kept crying. Percy stood up next to me,

'We need a shroud. For a son of Hermes.' He walked over towards the big group of adults dressed in full battle armour with weapons ready standing near the door. I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. I looked up and a guy who I swore could've been a male model was standing over me, his face grim. He had golden blonde hair, and green eyes just like me. His matching ray ban sunglasses were pushed up in his messy blonde hair. His eyes were full of concern. He crouched next to me as three old ladies's put Luke's body on a stretcher and carried him towards one of the adults with brown curly hair and blue eyes. He must've been Hermes.

'I am Apollo, im you're father Scarlet.' Whoa. Shock wave.

'W-What?' I stuttered.

'Scarlet McKinley, you are my daughter.'

'Ok.'

'What happened was not you're fault.' I had no response for that so I just nodded slowly.

'My oracle gave the prophecy over 50 years ago. It was pre-destined.' I just kept nodding, not really taking in what he had to say.

'Don't worry, you'll understand. It takes a while to sink in. but just know, this wasn't you're fault. It wasn't you're fault.' He just kept repeating while it all sunk in. Luke was gone. My Life was never going to be close to normal again. What had happened to Melaynie? Questions kept running through my mind while tears poured down my cheeks. Apollo sat down on the ground beside me and hugged me until I stopped crying.

'Is Melaynie alright?' I asked, my voice was coarse. He laughed a bit.

'After all you've been through today, you're worried about you're friend? Maybe you inherited something from that sister of Mine Artemis. I think it might have skipped a generation.' He mused. I smiled a bit. Id always read that Apollo and Artemis were always fighting, and Shhh! I didn't also hear that Artemis was the smarter one. He stood up and pulled me with him. We started walking to the big group of adults. If I was correct, these where the gods. When we reached them, I heard cheering come from down the walkway to the throne room. I looked over my shoulder and a boy my age with black hair, olive skin and black eyes was walking through a crowd of people on either side of the walkway getting pats on the back and 'good jobs' from some immortals (im guessing that's who they were). Someone clad in blood red robes with a black crown that radiated power and death that wanted to make me hide under a rock followed after him. A wild guess told me that this was Hades and his son. I turned my head back towards the gods and saw Percy run up to us.

'Lord Apollo! Its Annabeth!' there was a tone of urgency in his voice. Apollo nodded and followed after him as they headed towards the blonde girl who I'd learnt was Annabeth. All the gods were talking amongst themselves, but a few had turned to question me. Two goddess where now facing me, their minds probably full of questions. The first to ask was a Goddess with blonde curly hair and gray eyes.

'I am Athena, goddess of wisdom and battle strategy.' She introduced herself. I don't know what told me to do it, but it felt right. So I knelt down on one knee and said,

'Lady Athena.' The other goddess was in the form a girl, maybe about twelve thirteen years old. I automatically knew who she was without an introduction.

'Lady Artemis.' I greeted. She touched my shoulder and I stood up. Their faces where both grim, but happy at the same time. Lady Athena spoke first.

'I hear you have been a great friend to my daughter Melaynie. I would like you to know that she is well and is resting in the infirmary while being treated by you're siblings. She has only suffered a broken rib, but it is nothing major. I appreciate you're kindness towards her. Thank you Scarlet.'

'You're welcome lady Athena.' Next it was lady Artemis' turn.

'I see my brother has claimed you as his own,' she pointed above my head; sure enough there was a holographic type image of a lyre above my head. She continued. 'But I would like you to know that you have another option other than Camp half blood. If you choose, you may join me and my hunters. If so, you must swear an oath to forever be an eternal maiden, and thereby you shall be immortal. Only if you fall in battle or break you're oath will you pass on.' I nodded my head slowly, I was thinking. Should I become an eternal maiden? Or whatever the hell that is? Swear off guys forever? Swear off love? Romance? What if im no good at being a hunter? What if Apollo doesn't approve? I realized I had been thinking for a few minutes, keeping the goddess waiting.

'Um, Im sorry Lady Artemis, but I just need to find out who I am, and what's going on right now. I will turn down the offer for now, but please keep a place for me if I should choose to join you.' I decided. She nodded, not smiling, but not frowning. Something in between.

'Very well Scarlet. I shall keep a place for you in my hunters if you should choose to join us. Be well.' and with that she left me standing there, off to talk to some other god, or maybe to her hunters. I saw something black out of the corner of my eye and turned around. The boy in the black, the son of Hades was holding the sword Melaynie had given me in the elevator. He was looking it over carefully. He looked up when he realized I was staring. I blushed a bit, I looked like a mess. But truthfully, he didn't look so good either. I rubbed the back of my neck nervously; it stung when I touched it. A lady wearing a white _chiton_ was walking around passing out goblets with a shiny gold liquid in them. I took one not sure what it was, the boy did the same.

'It's Nectar. Drink it; it will make you feel better. But don't drink too much or you will literally spontaneously combust into flames. Though it wouldn't be half as bad for you being daughter of Apollo and all.' I smiled a small smile and took a sip; it tasted like dark chocolate. I was really surprised that it tasted like chocolate that I almost dropped the golden goblet. The boy was still holding my sword.

'Um …' I motioned towards the five foot long bronze and steel sword. He blushed and flipped it so the hilt was facing me. I clicked the small miniscule button hidden at the bottom of the hilt and it retracted into a silver pen. The side red; _eclipse_ in Greek. Im not even going to question how I knew how to read that.

'Thanks.' I murmured.

'Im Nico by the way, Nico Di Angelo, son of Hades Nice to meet you.' I put the pen in my pocket as he stuck out his hand. I shook it. Tingles went shooting up my arm,

'Scarlet McKinley, daughter of Apollo. Nice to meet you Nico.'

'It certainly is.' He replied smiling.

**This was a long one shot that I just randomly thought about. Love it? Hate it? Can't live without it? Let me know! Flames are always accepted! **

**~swimmergirl3**


	2. three years later

**This is now three years later, and everything is normal at camp. No battles, no threats, nothing. Just normal. Well, sort of.**

It's been almost a year, and ive thought about him every day. I know I should get over him, and that my feelings for him aren't healthy, but yenno, it's natural. I hope you don't think im talking about Luke. I mean, sure I think about him once in a while, but seeing him that one last time really helped me get over him. Im talking about my best friend. Yeah, Nico Di Angelo son of Hades is my best friend and im proud of it. Now I know what you're thinking; girls and guys can't just be friends! One of them is bound to mess it up! And im afraid that it's going to be me that screws it up. I can't help it, the way he laughs at my sarcasm, the way he flicks his head to get his glossy raven black hair out of his eyes, or the way that he stands close to me, leaning into me when he gets the chance. I just cant get enough of him. But I couldn't imagine what would happen if I told him about my feelings, and he didn't have the same. I think it would be extremely awkward, and probably ruin our entire friendship. Nothing spared. I lost my train of though, and suddenly my sword was on the ground.

"Styx." I mumbled picking it up. I always have been bad with a sword, even before I didn't pay attention when I was duelling with Nico. He did his sexy hair flick again.

"You really need to start concentrating on your sword training. You can't fight all you're battles with a bow and quiver." Pointed out Nico, not even out of breath.

"Whatever." I grumbled. He walked over and put a hand on my shoulder, leaning his head down to find my eyes which were trained on my Nike sneakers.

"You need to concentrate. I don't want you to get killed." He said finally catching my gaze. It was silent for a moment, and we just looked at each other.

"Nico, ive got a question." I said calmly.

"Yeah?" he said pulling him closer to me, my voice was barely audible.

"What would you do … if I told you somebody like you?" I admitted finally.

"Really? Who?" he said, sort of excitedly. My heart dropped.

"Umm … somebody." I said trying to pull out of his grip on my shoulder. It wasn't working very well.

"Who's 'somebody'?"

"A girl."

"Whew," he said pretending to wipe a hand across his forehead, "I thought you were going to say a guy." He joked.

"Hey! This isn't funny!" I said pouting. His hand let go of my shoulder and traced up towards my mouth. He used his fingers to pull up the corner of my mouth. His fingers lingered there for a long while.

"Does her name start with an S?" he asked quietly, almost whispering. Yet again, he brought his body closer to my own, we were almost touching.

"Maybe." I said guiltily, pouting again. His index finger traced my bottom lip softly, like he was trying to savour the moment.

"Well, I think I love somebody." He decided at the end of a very long silence.

"Really?" I doubted it was me.

"Yeah. And you know what? I don't care if it will ruin the friendship. I just want her to know how I feel." He said. His gaze followed his finger lazily.

"Oh."

"Wanna know who she is?" he whispered in a low, sexy voice.

"Sure." I said, my mouth still forming a pout.

"It's that girl from Aphrodite." He said finally. His face was completely serious. I ripped myself away from his grasp; tears forming in my eyes. My heart was pounding, and hurting at the same time.

"I knew it." I said as i almost let the first tear escape. I barely managed to keep it contained. I was a few feet away from him now, watching his amused expression carefully.

"You could never love me." I spat. I turned to start walking away, and I got about three feet from the door when someone whipped me around, and crashed their lips into mine. I pulled away in shock and gasped, trying to regain the lost air to fill my lungs. I felt a firm hand around my waist, and one cupping my cheek.

"Scarlet." Whispered Nico.

"What?" I asked, my breathing was still staggered.

"Have I ever told you I loved you?" he asked. He was sort of out of breath too.

"No."

"Well I should start then."

"Do you, do you really?" I asked as quietly as I could while still being audible.

"I wouldn't have just … yenno … kissed you." He said softly, breathing into my ear. His hand moved from my cheek down to where his other hand was residing; my lower back.

"I guess so."

"Can I try something?"

"Try what?"

"Can I kiss you right this time?"


End file.
